It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in British Columbia. Because all over the province, outdoor lights displays, Santa Claus set-ups and nativity scenes are being looted and smashed.

A rash of Christmas display thefts and vandalism has homeowners scratching their heads and small children bursting into tears. Almost a dozen new cases have been reported in the past week alone, most of them in the Vancouver area. Indeed, the Yuletide carnage seems limited to B.C.; only a smattering of similar cases has been recorded east of the Rockies.

Incidents range from a beloved inflatable snowman snatched from a front yard in Langley, a Vancouver suburb, to a front lawn picked clean of figurines in neighbouring Maple Ridge, to a double reindeer heist in Prince George. There’s also been mindless destruction along Candy Cane Lane, a renowned neighbourhood display in Cranbrook, in southeastern B.C.

For several years, small-time crooks have been pinching outdoor Christmas lights and extension cords for their copper, which is sold to unscrupulous metal recyclers for pennies on the dollar. But this year, grinches seem determined to pilfer or simply destroy anything that hints of Yuletide joy. Folks are hitting back, contacting police and conducting their own private investigations.

Smash-and-grab victim Mark Wagner is on the lookout for two miscreants in Cranbrook; the pair was spotted wreaking havoc on Candy Cane Lane in the wee hours last week. A “curly-haired man” and an accomplice brazenly snatched two Christmas trees from Mr. Wagner’s front lawn, along with a “long line of illuminated, four-foot high candy canes.”

We’ve had a few minor thefts over the 14 Christmases my wife and I have lived on Candy Cane Lane, but nothing like this

Mr. Wagner says his neighbour lost five light-covered trees, and a hand-crafted wooden Santa Claus figure was snapped in half. Another neighbour lost a couple of illuminated trees as well.

“It’s just senseless,” says Mr. Wagner. “We’ve had a few minor thefts over the 14 Christmases that my wife and I have lived [on Candy Cane Lane], but nothing like this.”

The curly-haired perpetrator and his pal were seen fleeing in a small, dark-coloured pickup truck, its payload piled high with pilfered Christmas displays. Police were called, but Mr. Wagner says that the Candy Cane Lane ransacking “doesn’t seem like much of a priority” for the local RCMP.

The case remains unsolved, but there’s been a development: Some of the stolen goods were discovered a few days ago, lying in a snow-covered heap at the side of a road. And the neighbour’s snapped-in-half Santa has been repaired.

No such luck for the Christmas in Williams Park Society, a volunteer outfit in Langley that puts on a “big deal” lights and figurine show every season. Thieves struck the society in February, breaking into a locked storage trailer and helping themselves to $8,000 worth of lights and extension cords.

It’s Christmas, for crying out loud

The material was replaced, and late last month, society volunteers worked through pouring rain to erect their annual display. But thieves have struck again, this time making off with a giant inflatable Santa Claus and cutting into pieces a bunch of LED drip lights and extension cords.

“It’s pretty demoralizing,” says society president Barbara Sharp. “We’re all volunteers, and we do our best to put on a fun event that families can enjoy for free. For 23 years we’ve had no problems, and now this. The stuff that wasn’t taken was destroyed and left scattered all over the park. I’ve just learned that we’re also missing our blow-up nativity scene. Who would do that? What is happening to people?”

One morning this week in suburban Langley, little Tristan Morton looked out her family’s living room window and noticed things were amiss. “I can’t see Frosty,” the eight-year-old wailed. A giant inflatable snowman, a gift from Tristan’s grandpa, was gone. Lights were stolen as well. “It’s been two hours of crying,” Tristan’s mother, Kelly Morton, told the Langley Advance newspaper.

Nearby in Pitt Meadows, a man broke into a Christmas tree lot operated by a troop of Boy Scouts, grabbed a $39 Fraser Fir, strapped it to a bicycle and pedalled away, according to witnesses.

Maple Ridge teenager Eric Moffat reports that a six-foot high inflatable Santa and an 11-foot Christmas tree have gone missing from his family’s front lawn. Neighbours have pitched in to help the Moffats replace their stolen goods, according to the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Times.

And for the third time in as many years, a couple in adjacent Port Coquitlam have lost their outdoor display to vandals and thieves. A number of large candy canes were broken over the weekend, and a pair of metal dog figures pulling a sleigh were stolen. Tracy and Manuel Castro are fed up, and they’ve decided to take down the rest of their display for the rest of the season.

“It was getting expensive for us to keep replacing things,” Ms. Castro told the Tri-Cities Now. “It’s Christmas, for crying out loud.”